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Friday, February 10, 2017

Its been an amazing 7 years!

Hi Guys. I have been really busy over the last 7 years making long term investment moves in the Singapore real estate scene. To recollect ERC Holdings led investments into Bugis Cube, House of Tan Yeok Nee and BIG Hotel. All were meant to be use assets and long term investments but since markets moved in our favor and all made very significant returns, we divested and that caused a bit of ruckus as our silent partners all wanted bigger chunks.

The returns we generated were very ok in my humble opinion. We made double digit millions from HTYN to well over a hundred million for Bugis Cube. All were meant to be use assets for our businesses and the joke is now we have to be leasing from others. However, we need to be counting our blessings as we have been blessed with the right deals even in difficult conditions.

I am writing to you from the air as I find it tough to generate similar returns in Singapore now. So I have been very very busy putting together our next portfolio, which is of course outside of the country. I have just been handed a 'game changer' as this acquisition just enabled the execution of our strategy. I have been going to church and praying very hard as our very disciplined investment approach prevents us from making investments outside of our investment approach. The move just enabled us to execute our strategy for the next 10 years. I am extremely excited as I have been working on this for the last 3 years. That is why I have been so quietly and busily working hard. I flew so much in 2016 that I just counted that I made 70 odd trips in that year alone. That is 1.5 trips per week. I was joking with the air crew that I almost fly as much as them.

I have not neglected the Singapore market too as I want a bit of exposure. I just acquired a premium near Orchard Road landed property at half the peak price just 3 years ago. I have been very carefully studying the market and foresee that once the government shows any sign of removing the cooling measures, process will recover nicely. Quality always prevails and the freehold landed shows all the characteristics of quality. A stone throw away from Orchard Road and yet so quiet, you think you are in a kampong. I have been eyeing the site and bid my move when the time is right.

I will share more with you what I think of the Singapore and overseas property markets in my next post. Apologies to those of you who have been emailing me. I am not able to reply you on an individual basis as I have been very much overwhelmed. My sincere apologies again.

Hi Guys! I am writing to you from the air again. This time I am on the way back from the Land of the Rising Sun. I cannot feel but a little ...

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Andy OngFounder of ERC Holdings

Andy Ong Siew Kwee currently serves as the Founder of ERC Holdings. Under his leadership, the parent group has since established strong foothold in four business silos namely education ERC Institute , hospitality, training and property investment within two decades.

Ong is a strong believer in enabling startups and young brands reach their potential. Together with a group of partners, he founded the Entrepreneur’s Resource Centre (ERC) to help budding entrepreneurs transform their business ideas into sustainable models.

The recent venture into a co-working space; BIGWork , an ideation incubator lab; BIGFund and an immersive startup fitness concept; BIGFitness is a testament to Ong’s vision of staying at the forefront of innovation.

In the fashion of undying entrepreneurial spirit, Ong also pursued opportunities out of the education and training space. The BIGHotel was set up in 2013, and was later sold in a multi-million dollar deal.

To date, Ong has built a strong portfolio in a wide range of industries; he is the owner of several businesses in education, training, print media and property investments with a combined annual turnover of $200 million.

A multi-faceted talent, Ong is an author and a seasoned property investor too.

Ong has been featured on major media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg and The Straits Times.